As a piano player, he formed a jazz trio in 1938 that played Los Angeles nightclubs, one of the first jazz trios featuring guitar and piano. Prior to this he had played music since he was a child and had worked with bands since he was sixteen. He was raised in Chicago and exposed to the abundant jazz scene there. He was heavily influenced by pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines.
Later he became more popularly known as a singer and crooner and his work became more orchestrated.
His first mainstream vocal hit was in 1944 with Straighten Up and Fly Right, based on a black folk tale that his father had used as a theme for a sermon. Although hardly a rocker, the song's success proved that an audience for folk-based material existed. It is considered a predecessor to the first rock and roll records. Indeed, Bo Diddley, who performed similar transformations of folk material, counted Cole as an influence.
Beginning in the late 1940s, Cole began recording and performing more pop-oriented material for mainstream audiences, often accompanied by a string orchestra. His stature as a popular icon was cemented during this period with such hits as The Christmas Song (1946), Nature Boy (1948), Mona Lisa (1950), and his signature tune Unforgettable (1951). While this shift to pop music led some jazz critics and fans to accuse Cole of selling out, he never totally abandoned his musical roots; as late as 1956, for instance, he recorded an all-jazz album, After Midnight. In 1991, Mosaic Records released the Complete Nat King Cole Trio Recordings on Capitol, which contained 349 songs on twenty-seven LPs or eighteen CDs.
Throughout the 1950s Cole continued to rack up hit after hit, including Smile, Pretend, A Blossom Fell, and If I May. Most of his pop hits were collaborations with famed arranger/conductor Nelson Riddle. It was with Riddle that Cole released his first ten-inch long-play album in 1953 entitled Sings for Two in Love. Several more albums followed, including the Gordon Jenkins arranged Love Is the Thing, which reached number one on the album charts in April 1957.
Inspired by a trip to Havana, Cuba in 1958, Nat went back there that same year and recorded Cole Espanol, an album sung entirely in Spanish and Portuguese. The album was a hit not only in the U.S., but in Latin America as well. The album was so popular, that two others followed: A mis amigos in 1959, and More Cole Espanol in 1962.
Musical tastes were changing in the late 1950s, and despite a successful stab at rock n' roll with Send for Me, Cole's ballad singing had grown old to younger listeners. Like contemporaries Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, Nat found that the pop singles chart had been almost entirely taken over by youth oriented acts. In 1960, Nat's longtime collaborator Nelson Riddle, left Capitol Records for Frank Sinatra's newly formed Reprise Records label. The two parted ways with one final hit album Wild Is Love, based on lyrics by Ray Rasch and Dotty Wayne. Nat would later re-tool the concept album into an off-Broadway production called I'm With You.
As the 1960s progressed, Nat once again found success on the American singles chart, starting with the country/pop flavored hit Ramblin' Rose in August of 1962. Three more hit singles followed: Dear Lonely Hearts, Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer, and That Sunday, That Summer. Nat's final album was entitled L.O.V.E, and was recorded in late 1964. It was released just prior to his death and reached number four on the Billboard Albums chart in the spring of 1965. A "Best Of" album went gold in 1968. His 1957 song When I Fall in Love was a chart topping hit for the U.K. in 1987.
Cole was the first African-American to have his own radio program. He repeated that success in the late-1950s with the first truly national television show starring an African-American. In both cases, the programs were ultimately canceled because sponsors shied away from a black artist. Cole fought racism all his life, refusing to perform in segregated venues. In 1956, he was attacked on stage in Birmingham, Alabama by members of the White Citizens' Council who apparently were attempting to kidnap him. Despite injuries, Cole completed the show but vowed never to perform in the South again.
On 23rd August 1956, Cole spoke at the Republican National Convention in the Cow Palace, San Francisco, California. He was also present at the Democratic National Convention in 1960, to throw his support behind President John F. Kennedy. Cole was also among the dozens of entertainers recruited by Frank Sinatra to perform at the Kennedy Inaugural gala in 1961. Nat King Cole frequently consulted with President Kennedy (and later President Johnson) on the issue of civil rights. Yet he was dogged by critics, who felt he shied away from controversy when it came to the civil rights issue. Among the most notable was Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who was upset that Cole didn't take stronger action after the 1956 on-stage attack.
In 1948, Cole purchased a house in the all-white Hancock Park neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. The property owners association told Cole they didn't want any undesirables moving in, to which Cole retorted "Neither do I. And if I see anybody undesirable coming in here, I'll be the first to complain."
He and his second wife, Maria Ellington, were married in Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church by Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. They had five children, including twin girls. Daughter Carol Cole, and son Kelly Cole were adopted. Kelly Cole died in 1995. Nat's daughter, Natalie Cole, and his younger brother, Freddie Cole are also singers.
Natalie and her father had an unexpected hit in the summer of 1991. The younger Cole mixed a 1961 recording of her father's rendition of Unforgettable with her own voice, creating an electronic duet. Both the song and the album of the same name won several Grammy awards the following year.
Cole performed in many short films, and played W. C. Handy in the film Saint Louis Blues. He also appeared in The Nat King Cole Story, China Gate, and The Blue Gardenia.
Nat King Cole was a heavy smoker of Kool menthol cigarettes, believing that smoking up to three packs a day gave his voice the rich sound it had (Cole would smoke several cigarettes in rapid succession before a recording for this very purpose). Cole died of lung cancer at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California, on 15th February 1965. His funeral was held at St. Victor's Catholic Church in West Hollywood, and he was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Cat Ballou, his final film, was released several months later.
Lonely One
Nat King Cole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They call the lonely one
There is sorrow in his face
And sadness in his eyes
And if you look into the heart
Within the lonely one
You'll find it's been deceived
That broken was in lies.
Is it good to have cried?
With the longing to hide
All your heartaches and fears.
Is it wise to be cold, and to
Struggle, to hold back with tears.
If you could only see the boy
They call the lonely one,
You'd know that since you're gone
The lonely one is me.
The Lonely One by Nat King Cole is a melancholic song that reflects on the emotions of a boy who is referred to as the lonely one. The very quiet boy is filled with sorrow and sadness that is evident in his eyes and face. The song delves into the heart of the lonely one and reveals that he has been deceived and broken by lies. The lyrics suggest that the loneliness may stem from a lost love, which left the boy feeling vulnerable and alone. The chorus of the song asks whether it is wise to hide heartaches and fears, and struggle to hold back tears.
The lyrics are a poignant representation of the pain of loneliness and heartbreak, and the song's soulful melody adds to its emotional depth. The slow and languorous pace of the song and Nat King Cole's smooth voice help to convey the character's sense of loss and solitude. The Lonely One is a musical gem that captures the essence of loneliness, grief, and the complexities of the human heart.
Line by Line Meaning
There is a very quiet boy
The subject of this song is a boy who is inherently quiet
They call the lonely one
People refer to him as 'the lonely one'
There is sorrow in his face
The boy's face shows signs of grief or distress
And sadness in his eyes
His eyes convey a feeling of melancholy
And if you look into the heart
If you probe deep into his soul
Within the lonely one
Inside the boy who feels lone
You'll find it's been deceived
You'll discover that he was betrayed
That broken was in lies.
Devious falsehoods shattered his world
Is it good to have cried?
Is it healthy to have shed tears?
With the longing to hide
As if you want to conceal your emotions
All your heartaches and fears.
The emotional torments and phobias that haunt you.
Is it wise to be cold, and to
Is it sensible to be aloof and cool, and to
Struggle, to hold back with tears.
Fight to resist tears and other signs of vulnerability.
If you could only see the boy
If you had the chance to visualize the boy
They call the lonely one,
Refer to as 'the lonely one,'
You'd know that since you're gone
You would realize that since you left
The lonely one is me.
That lonely boy mentioned earlier is me.
Lyrics © DistroKid, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: LENNY HAMBRO, ROBERTA HELLER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@manuelnanclares7921
There is a very quiet boy
They call the lonely one
There is sorrow in his face
And sadness in his eyes
And if you look into the heart
Within the lonely one
You'll find it's been deceived
That broken was in lies.
Is it good to have cried?
With the longing to hide
All your heartaches and fears.
Is it wise to be cold, and to
Struggle, to hold back with tears.
If you could only see the boy
They call the lonely one,
You'd know that since you're gone
The lonely one is me.
@elimarco
Thank You Manuel and Chris for this lyrics!
Below is the the lyrics in Brazilian Portuguese
O SOLITÁRIO
Há um menino muito quieto
O chamam de "o solitário"
Há sofrimento em seu rosto
E tristeza em seus olhos
E se você olhar para dentro do coração
Dentro do solitário
Você descobrirá que foi iludido
Por votos quebrados e mentiras
É bom ter chorado?
Com o desejo de esconder
Todas as suas dores e medos?
É sensato ser frio e
Lutar, para se conter com lágrimas?
Se você pudesse apenas ver o menino
Que chamam de "o solitário",
Você saberia disso desde que você se foi
O solitário sou eu.
Instrumental
É bom ter chorado?
Com o desejo de esconder
Todas as suas dores e medos?
É sensato ser frio e
Lutar, para se conter com lágrimas?
Se você pudesse apenas ver o menino
Que chamam de "o solitário",
Você saberia disso desde que você se foi
Que o solitário sou eu.
Instrumental
Você saberia disso desde que você se foi
Que o solitário sou eu.
@chrisbaldwin3148
This is a hauntingly beautiful song.
@manuelnanclares7921
There is a very quiet boy
They call the lonely one
There is sorrow in his face
And sadness in his eyes
And if you look into the heart
Within the lonely one
You'll find it's been deceived
That broken was in lies.
Is it good to have cried?
With the longing to hide
All your heartaches and fears.
Is it wise to be cold, and to
Struggle, to hold back with tears.
If you could only see the boy
They call the lonely one,
You'd know that since you're gone
The lonely one is me.
@chrisbaldwin3148
A couple mistakes in the lyrics you posted:
Line 8: should be "by broken vows and lies"
Line 9: should be "is it good to have pride"
@elimarco
Thank You Manuel and Chris for this lyrics!
Below is the the lyrics in Brazilian Portuguese
O SOLITÁRIO
Há um menino muito quieto
O chamam de "o solitário"
Há sofrimento em seu rosto
E tristeza em seus olhos
E se você olhar para dentro do coração
Dentro do solitário
Você descobrirá que foi iludido
Por votos quebrados e mentiras
É bom ter chorado?
Com o desejo de esconder
Todas as suas dores e medos?
É sensato ser frio e
Lutar, para se conter com lágrimas?
Se você pudesse apenas ver o menino
Que chamam de "o solitário",
Você saberia disso desde que você se foi
O solitário sou eu.
Instrumental
É bom ter chorado?
Com o desejo de esconder
Todas as suas dores e medos?
É sensato ser frio e
Lutar, para se conter com lágrimas?
Se você pudesse apenas ver o menino
Que chamam de "o solitário",
Você saberia disso desde que você se foi
Que o solitário sou eu.
Instrumental
Você saberia disso desde que você se foi
Que o solitário sou eu.
@chrisbaldwin3148
@Marcos Elias Eu falo português brasileiro e assisto vídeos gravados em português diariamente para manter agudas minhas habilidades da linguagem. Obrigado pela tradução,amigão!
@elimarco
@Chris Baldwin Eu é quem agradeço a você!
Essa maravilhosa canção merece, pela letra, pela música e pela suave voz do Nat King Cole, ser traduzida para todas as línguas. [ ]s amiga!
@jotr18
This song is awesome!!! And his voice is awesomw too!!
@chillor75
one of my favorite songs when im sad :(( but i love it so much
@0307Brandon
If there's really a time machine. i wish i could time travel to NKC time, to see him singing this song live! Thank you.
@cutiepie1830
I love this song so much, I could listen to it all day but listen to a thousand word you will love it even more.